Studies have shown that it is much more cost effective for a company to retain an existing customer than it is to try to win a new customer. They have also shown that the most common reason for a customer to switch suppliers is because of poor service and not because of any complaint about the product being purchased. Providing good customer service and preserving the loyalty of existing customers is therefore one of the primary objectives of today's businesses. Consequently, the ability to identify "at risk" customers who have received poor service or are otherwise dissatisfied, and to take steps to correct the problem before the customer is lost, is of prime importance to a business.
Large businesses generally provide a significant amount of their customer service telephonically via call centers. Their approaches to maintaining customer satisfaction with customer service focus on agent training and service observing in an attempt to maintain high standards of service. But even if they meet their objectives, it is inevitable that there will be at least some instances of customer service that, for one reason or another, leave a customer dissatisfied. A solution for the problem of identifying and retaining such "at risk" customers is therefore needed.